St. Modwen has announced the £10.7 million sale of the investment in Stoke on Trent’s largest new build commercial office building.

Currently being constructed for occupier Vodafone UK, the building at Etruria Valley Business Park has been sold to a private investor with an initial yield of 8 per cent.

The property, which is on target for completion in August to be operational from September, will be leased to Vodafone UK for 16 years at £912,000 per annum.

The development is being undertaken by Stoke-on-Trent Regeneration Ltd., the joint venture company with Stoke-on-Trent City Council run and managed by St Modwen’s North Staffordshire regional team.

“The sale of the investment in this property is a strong sign that there are currently good levels of interest in commercial properties in Stoke on Trent,” said Mike Herbert, St. Modwen’s North Staffordshire regional director.

“This is the largest purpose built office building St. Modwen has ever created in Staffordshire and indeed we believe it is the largest of its kind in the region.

“Construction of the building is progressing on target. Etruria Valley is an extremely popular business location in Stoke and we are confident that this building will not only make a visual statement of the Vodafone brand but will also create an environment which Vodafone employees will be proud to work in.”

Designed and created in conjunction with St Modwen’s architects RPS Design, the building is intended to set a new standard for call centres in the UK.

The building comprises 100 per cent recyclable metal cladding and is complemented by high natural day lighting levels and structural detailing in Vodafone’s distinctive red corporate colour. Designed to achieve a BREEAM ‘very good’ rating, the building includes solar shading and a cantilevered roof form to reduce solar gain and cooling loads, alongside a winged roof shape which allows rainwater harvesting.

The call centre is divided into south and north wings offering 400 and 450 workstations, respectively, alongside a 300 seat cafe and restaurant plus meeting and training rooms.

The 125 acre Etruria Valley Business Park is the site of the former Shelton Steel Works and is an expansion of St. Modwen’s Festival Park scheme. It is being developed over two phases, in a joint venture with Corus.

St Modwen were represented on the Investment sale by Colliers CRE and Knight Frank acted on behalf of the investor. DTZ acted on behalf of Vodafone on the pre letting agreement.